Visit our performer lineup page for more about the entertainment!
In particular, we are grateful to our presenting sponsors, Best Window & Door Company and Barry and MaryAnn Ritko, and major sponsors 1st Summit Bank; AmeriServ Trust and Financial Services Company; IMAC; ProVia; JWF Industries; Robert Ramos, Wealth Management Partners; William Penn Association; and Discover Downtown Johnstown/Vision 2025.
Friday, Sept. 20
4:00: Festival opens (no food sales prior to open)
5:00-7:00: Polka Floyd
7:30-9:30: Bombici
Saturday, Sept. 21
noon: Festival opens (no food sales prior to open)
1:00-2:00: Balkan Babes
2:00-3:30: Nutroll contest
2:30-3:30: DANKA performance
3:30-4:00: DANKA dance instruction
4:00-5:30: Pajtasi
6:00-9:00: Orkestar Zabava
Saturday, Sept. 21
12:30-2:30: Joe Malloy, accordion
2:45-3:45: Jacob Czerak, accordion
Sat., Sept. 21
12:30-1:30 — Dean Poloka: Carpatho-Rusyn Dances Explained: Carpatho-Rusyn dance choreographer Dean Poloka will talk about traditional Carpatho-Ruysn dances from the homeland in the Carpathian Mountains (pictured) as well as influences from neighboring cultures. He has been a choreographer of Carpatho-Rusyn dances for over 25 years with the Slavjane Folk Ensemble of McKees Rocks, PA. Since the early 1990s, Dean has researched and studied traditional Carpatho-Rusyn music, song, and dance with various folk ensembles in Slovakia, Poland and Ukraine.
2:15-3:15: Aaron Rovan: Johnstown’s Slavic Catholic Women and the Importance of Folk Religion: While we often think of religious traditions as those practiced inside a church or a house of worship, religious practices extend into the home. Through traditions such as cooking and serving holiday meals to maintaining shrines and sacramentals in their homes, Slavic Catholic women have exemplified the importance of these informal, folk religious traditions. Through their practice of these traditions, Slavic Catholic women have maintained their ethnic community’s identity in the Johnstown region. This presentation will discuss some of these folk traditions and propose some ways that these informal religious practices have affected Catholic women’s secular relationships within their community.
3:45-4:45 pm: Rob Sivec, The Slavic Miners of Windber
Saturday, Sept. 21:
12:30-1:30: Joanne Todorich, demonstrating Palacinke, or Croatian-Serbian pancakes. These thin, crepe-like pancakes can be savory (filled with meat, or vegetables), or sweet (with jam, fruit, or cheese).
Admission to the Heritage Discovery Center/Johnstown Children’s Museum is FREE during the festival!